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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/mm')
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diff --git a/Documentation/mm/active_mm.rst b/Documentation/mm/active_mm.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..6f8269c284ed --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/mm/active_mm.rst @@ -0,0 +1,91 @@ +.. _active_mm: + +========= +Active MM +========= + +:: + + List: linux-kernel + Subject: Re: active_mm + From: Linus Torvalds <torvalds () transmeta ! com> + Date: 1999-07-30 21:36:24 + + Cc'd to linux-kernel, because I don't write explanations all that often, + and when I do I feel better about more people reading them. + + On Fri, 30 Jul 1999, David Mosberger wrote: + > + > Is there a brief description someplace on how "mm" vs. "active_mm" in + > the task_struct are supposed to be used? (My apologies if this was + > discussed on the mailing lists---I just returned from vacation and + > wasn't able to follow linux-kernel for a while). + + Basically, the new setup is: + + - we have "real address spaces" and "anonymous address spaces". The + difference is that an anonymous address space doesn't care about the + user-level page tables at all, so when we do a context switch into an + anonymous address space we just leave the previous address space + active. + + The obvious use for a "anonymous address space" is any thread that + doesn't need any user mappings - all kernel threads basically fall into + this category, but even "real" threads can temporarily say that for + some amount of time they are not going to be interested in user space, + and that the scheduler might as well try to avoid wasting time on + switching the VM state around. Currently only the old-style bdflush + sync does that. + + - "tsk->mm" points to the "real address space". For an anonymous process, + tsk->mm will be NULL, for the logical reason that an anonymous process + really doesn't _have_ a real address space at all. + + - however, we obviously need to keep track of which address space we + "stole" for such an anonymous user. For that, we have "tsk->active_mm", + which shows what the currently active address space is. + + The rule is that for a process with a real address space (ie tsk->mm is + non-NULL) the active_mm obviously always has to be the same as the real + one. + + For a anonymous process, tsk->mm == NULL, and tsk->active_mm is the + "borrowed" mm while the anonymous process is running. When the + anonymous process gets scheduled away, the borrowed address space is + returned and cleared. + + To support all that, the "struct mm_struct" now has two counters: a + "mm_users" counter that is how many "real address space users" there are, + and a "mm_count" counter that is the number of "lazy" users (ie anonymous + users) plus one if there are any real users. + + Usually there is at least one real user, but it could be that the real + user exited on another CPU while a lazy user was still active, so you do + actually get cases where you have a address space that is _only_ used by + lazy users. That is often a short-lived state, because once that thread + gets scheduled away in favour of a real thread, the "zombie" mm gets + released because "mm_count" becomes zero. + + Also, a new rule is that _nobody_ ever has "init_mm" as a real MM any + more. "init_mm" should be considered just a "lazy context when no other + context is available", and in fact it is mainly used just at bootup when + no real VM has yet been created. So code that used to check + + if (current->mm == &init_mm) + + should generally just do + + if (!current->mm) + + instead (which makes more sense anyway - the test is basically one of "do + we have a user context", and is generally done by the page fault handler + and things like that). + + Anyway, I put a pre-patch-2.3.13-1 on ftp.kernel.org just a moment ago, + because it slightly changes the interfaces to accommodate the alpha (who + would have thought it, but the alpha actually ends up having one of the + ugliest context switch codes - unlike the other architectures where the MM + and register state is separate, the alpha PALcode joins the two, and you + need to switch both together). + + (From http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=93337278602211&w=2) diff --git a/Documentation/mm/arch_pgtable_helpers.rst b/Documentation/mm/arch_pgtable_helpers.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..cbaee9e59241 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/mm/arch_pgtable_helpers.rst @@ -0,0 +1,260 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +.. _arch_page_table_helpers: + +=============================== +Architecture Page Table Helpers +=============================== + +Generic MM expects architectures (with MMU) to provide helpers to create, access +and modify page table entries at various level for different memory functions. +These page table helpers need to conform to a common semantics across platforms. +Following tables describe the expected semantics which can also be tested during +boot via CONFIG_DEBUG_VM_PGTABLE option. All future changes in here or the debug +test need to be in sync. + + +PTE Page Table Helpers +====================== + ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_same | Tests whether both PTE entries are the same | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_bad | Tests a non-table mapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_present | Tests a valid mapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_young | Tests a young PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_dirty | Tests a dirty PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_write | Tests a writable PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_special | Tests a special PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_protnone | Tests a PROT_NONE PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_devmap | Tests a ZONE_DEVICE mapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_soft_dirty | Tests a soft dirty PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_swp_soft_dirty | Tests a soft dirty swapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkyoung | Creates a young PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkold | Creates an old PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkdirty | Creates a dirty PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkclean | Creates a clean PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkwrite | Creates a writable PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_wrprotect | Creates a write protected PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkspecial | Creates a special PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkdevmap | Creates a ZONE_DEVICE mapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mksoft_dirty | Creates a soft dirty PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_clear_soft_dirty | Clears a soft dirty PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_swp_mksoft_dirty | Creates a soft dirty swapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_swp_clear_soft_dirty | Clears a soft dirty swapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mknotpresent | Invalidates a mapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| ptep_clear | Clears a PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| ptep_get_and_clear | Clears and returns PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| ptep_get_and_clear_full | Clears and returns PTE (batched PTE unmap) | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| ptep_test_and_clear_young | Clears young from a PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| ptep_set_wrprotect | Converts into a write protected PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| ptep_set_access_flags | Converts into a more permissive PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ + + +PMD Page Table Helpers +====================== + ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_same | Tests whether both PMD entries are the same | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_bad | Tests a non-table mapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_leaf | Tests a leaf mapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_huge | Tests a HugeTLB mapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_trans_huge | Tests a Transparent Huge Page (THP) at PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_present | Tests a valid mapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_young | Tests a young PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_dirty | Tests a dirty PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_write | Tests a writable PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_special | Tests a special PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_protnone | Tests a PROT_NONE PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_devmap | Tests a ZONE_DEVICE mapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_soft_dirty | Tests a soft dirty PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_swp_soft_dirty | Tests a soft dirty swapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkyoung | Creates a young PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkold | Creates an old PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkdirty | Creates a dirty PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkclean | Creates a clean PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkwrite | Creates a writable PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_wrprotect | Creates a write protected PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkspecial | Creates a special PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkdevmap | Creates a ZONE_DEVICE mapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mksoft_dirty | Creates a soft dirty PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_clear_soft_dirty | Clears a soft dirty PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_swp_mksoft_dirty | Creates a soft dirty swapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_swp_clear_soft_dirty | Clears a soft dirty swapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_mkinvalid | Invalidates a mapped PMD [1] | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_set_huge | Creates a PMD huge mapping | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmd_clear_huge | Clears a PMD huge mapping | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmdp_get_and_clear | Clears a PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmdp_get_and_clear_full | Clears a PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmdp_test_and_clear_young | Clears young from a PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmdp_set_wrprotect | Converts into a write protected PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pmdp_set_access_flags | Converts into a more permissive PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ + + +PUD Page Table Helpers +====================== + ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_same | Tests whether both PUD entries are the same | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_bad | Tests a non-table mapped PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_leaf | Tests a leaf mapped PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_huge | Tests a HugeTLB mapped PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_trans_huge | Tests a Transparent Huge Page (THP) at PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_present | Tests a valid mapped PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_young | Tests a young PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_dirty | Tests a dirty PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_write | Tests a writable PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_devmap | Tests a ZONE_DEVICE mapped PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_mkyoung | Creates a young PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_mkold | Creates an old PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_mkdirty | Creates a dirty PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_mkclean | Creates a clean PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_mkwrite | Creates a writable PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_wrprotect | Creates a write protected PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_mkdevmap | Creates a ZONE_DEVICE mapped PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_mkinvalid | Invalidates a mapped PUD [1] | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_set_huge | Creates a PUD huge mapping | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pud_clear_huge | Clears a PUD huge mapping | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pudp_get_and_clear | Clears a PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pudp_get_and_clear_full | Clears a PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pudp_test_and_clear_young | Clears young from a PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pudp_set_wrprotect | Converts into a write protected PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pudp_set_access_flags | Converts into a more permissive PUD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ + + +HugeTLB Page Table Helpers +========================== + ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_huge | Tests a HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| pte_mkhuge | Creates a HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_pte_dirty | Tests a dirty HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_pte_write | Tests a writable HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_pte_mkdirty | Creates a dirty HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_pte_mkwrite | Creates a writable HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_pte_wrprotect | Creates a write protected HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_ptep_get_and_clear | Clears a HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_ptep_set_wrprotect | Converts into a write protected HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| huge_ptep_set_access_flags | Converts into a more permissive HugeTLB | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ + + +SWAP Page Table Helpers +======================== + ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| __pte_to_swp_entry | Creates a swapped entry (arch) from a mapped PTE | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| __swp_to_pte_entry | Creates a mapped PTE from a swapped entry (arch) | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| __pmd_to_swp_entry | Creates a swapped entry (arch) from a mapped PMD | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| __swp_to_pmd_entry | Creates a mapped PMD from a swapped entry (arch) | ++---------------------------+--------------------------------------------------+ +| is_migration_entry | Tests a migration (read or write) swapped entry | ++-------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ +| is_writable_migration_entry | Tests a write migration swapped entry | ++-------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ +| make_readable_migration_entry | Creates a read migration swapped entry | ++-------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ +| make_writable_migration_entry | Creates a write migration swapped entry | ++-------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ + +[1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20181017020930.GN30832@redhat.com/ diff --git a/Documentation/mm/balance.rst b/Documentation/mm/balance.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..6a1fadf3e173 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/mm/balance.rst @@ -0,0 +1,102 @@ +.. _balance: + +================ +Memory Balancing +================ + +Started Jan 2000 by Kanoj Sarcar <kanoj@sgi.com> + +Memory balancing is needed for !__GFP_ATOMIC and !__GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM as +well as for non __GFP_IO allocations. + +The first reason why a caller may avoid reclaim is that the caller can not +sleep due to holding a spinlock or is in interrupt context. The second may +be that the caller is willing to fail the allocation without incurring the +overhead of page reclaim. This may happen for opportunistic high-order +allocation requests that have order-0 fallback options. In such cases, +the caller may also wish to avoid waking kswapd. + +__GFP_IO allocation requests are made to prevent file system deadlocks. + +In the absence of non sleepable allocation requests, it seems detrimental +to be doing balancing. Page reclamation can be kicked off lazily, that +is, only when needed (aka zone free memory is 0), instead of making it +a proactive process. + +That being said, the kernel should try to fulfill requests for direct +mapped pages from the direct mapped pool, instead of falling back on +the dma pool, so as to keep the dma pool filled for dma requests (atomic +or not). A similar argument applies to highmem and direct mapped pages. +OTOH, if there is a lot of free dma pages, it is preferable to satisfy +regular memory requests by allocating one from the dma pool, instead +of incurring the overhead of regular zone balancing. + +In 2.2, memory balancing/page reclamation would kick off only when the +_total_ number of free pages fell below 1/64 th of total memory. With the +right ratio of dma and regular memory, it is quite possible that balancing +would not be done even when the dma zone was completely empty. 2.2 has +been running production machines of varying memory sizes, and seems to be +doing fine even with the presence of this problem. In 2.3, due to +HIGHMEM, this problem is aggravated. + +In 2.3, zone balancing can be done in one of two ways: depending on the +zone size (and possibly of the size of lower class zones), we can decide +at init time how many free pages we should aim for while balancing any +zone. The good part is, while balancing, we do not need to look at sizes +of lower class zones, the bad part is, we might do too frequent balancing +due to ignoring possibly lower usage in the lower class zones. Also, +with a slight change in the allocation routine, it is possible to reduce +the memclass() macro to be a simple equality. + +Another possible solution is that we balance only when the free memory +of a zone _and_ all its lower class zones falls below 1/64th of the +total memory in the zone and its lower class zones. This fixes the 2.2 +balancing problem, and stays as close to 2.2 behavior as possible. Also, +the balancing algorithm works the same way on the various architectures, +which have different numbers and types of zones. If we wanted to get +fancy, we could assign different weights to free pages in different +zones in the future. + +Note that if the size of the regular zone is huge compared to dma zone, +it becomes less significant to consider the free dma pages while +deciding whether to balance the regular zone. The first solution +becomes more attractive then. + +The appended patch implements the second solution. It also "fixes" two +problems: first, kswapd is woken up as in 2.2 on low memory conditions +for non-sleepable allocations. Second, the HIGHMEM zone is also balanced, +so as to give a fighting chance for replace_with_highmem() to get a +HIGHMEM page, as well as to ensure that HIGHMEM allocations do not +fall back into regular zone. This also makes sure that HIGHMEM pages +are not leaked (for example, in situations where a HIGHMEM page is in +the swapcache but is not being used by anyone) + +kswapd also needs to know about the zones it should balance. kswapd is +primarily needed in a situation where balancing can not be done, +probably because all allocation requests are coming from intr context +and all process contexts are sleeping. For 2.3, kswapd does not really +need to balance the highmem zone, since intr context does not request +highmem pages. kswapd looks at the zone_wake_kswapd field in the zone +structure to decide whether a zone needs balancing. + +Page stealing from process memory and shm is done if stealing the page would +alleviate memory pressure on any zone in the page's node that has fallen below +its watermark. + +wat |